Cardiac ablation for WPW

Hi

I'm due to have an ablation next week and could do with hearing some success stories!

For most o my childhood i remember if i laughed suddenly or something, BOOM, my heart would be racing i thought it would burst out my chest.  (I now know this was atrial fibulation). But as i was a child, i thought nothing of it - i would hold my breath and push my lungs out and it would go. It only happened 1-2 times a year, sometimes not at all.

Then i was about 21, and i started getting these little thuds and flutters, which in turn led to me having lots of panic attacks. One time i went to hospital after having a lot of thuds and bangs, had an ecg, and was told i had just had a panic attack. I went to my GP and was referred to the hospital where i had a 24hr heart monitor and echocardiogram. Nothing happened when i had the monitor on. And that was the last i heard until last year when i was pregnant and my midwife asked what was happening with the Wolff Parkinson White. I didnt know what she was talking about as no-one had thought to tell me. So i spoke to my GP and was told it was fine i didnt need any treatment.

Then 2 days after i gave birth, after days of no sleep, i was up with my new daughter and did a sudden little laugh at something she did and off my heart went. Only no matter how much i tried i couldnt kick it into normal rythm. This went on for hours as it has never made me feel dizzy or ill before, but after a few hours i felt i was going to pass out and i called an ambulence. My heart was hitting as high as 260 beats per minute. I was given IV Flecainide and it soon went back to normal. I'm now on 50mg flecainide x 2 daily and am due for my ablation.

I'm just really scared of the things that could go wrong, even though there is only a small chance of this. I'm also scared it wont work and i will have to have it done again. But to be honest i think it will be worth it as these meds make my 26yr old body feel more like 96. I havent been able to work off my baby fat as i have zero energy - plus im scared of having an episode! I also am very anxious and still get little bumps and thumps. I just want to lead a normal life, with lots of energy and no fear of exercise!

I had ablation surgery in November 0f 1999.  It was successful, no problems at all.  The surgery changed my life and I am only on 75 mg. of atelenol now and it is so wonderful to not to worry about my heart beating out of control.  Go for it - it will change your life!

Hello guys :) My husband just underwent an ablation for an extra electrical pathway in his heart. To make a long story short, his procedure was not successful and the electrocardiologist told us that my husband has a rare form of WPW, rare in where the extra pathway is located. Instead of being on the inside of the heart, his is on the outside, right near a major artery, in a place that is hard to reach, making the procedure riskier than the ususal. They were already on the inside of the heart doing the mapping process when they realized of the location and tried to ablate it from the inside, but the heart wall was too thick to get to it. Before all of this my husband would have SVT a few times a year as long as he avoided physical activity-which is why he wanted to have it corrected, loves racketball , but now that the unsuccessful procedure has taken place, he is having them all the time! We have been to the ER 3 times in the past week. Luckily, I feel a little better now after reading on some other posts that this could be normal for it to be worse for a few weeks..and my husband just had the procedure 3 weeks ago..but when I mentioned it to our Electrocardiologist, he rolled his eyes and summed it up to being psychological!! If anyone reads this and has a similar experience, I would greatly appreciate any response at all. We are worried and as of right now are praying for things to go back to how they were before trying to correct the problem, and trying to decide on the riskier procedure. My husband is only 27 years old.  Thanks for reading!!!!!!!!   Jen in Florida

Hello all,

I had ablation Wed 1/8/14 for WPW. I feel great now, except for shoulders from being strapped to table. I was suppose to be awake for procedure, but doc soon wanted be out. I was on table 6 hrs, with arm supports strapped together to tighten me up a bit I guess. I had 4 veinious lines and large line for tool in groins and one veinious line in jugular. Doc had to go to left side to do ablation, took a bit longer than expected. It has been 4 days and shoulder pain is all I have left...and it is painfull. I already was thinking I had a rotator cuff issue on right side, now I think it is more than an issue. I can hardly lift a gallon of milk from fridgerator. I will post after follow up with family Dr.

I went to family doctor today. He prescribed some pain meds and others. I have to let him know in 2 weeks if I still have pain and discomfort. If I still do, then he will refer me to orthopedic for consult. Sometimes as I am laying in bed, my pulse isn't fast, but strong. Not sure if it is due to meds or heart just getting use to normal beat. While I was on overnight at hospital , rate maintained 85+ ,for a brief period I was able to get down to 60 but that did not last. I will keep monitoring this.

Thanks.

Well, I went to Orthopaedic doctor Wed, he noticed marked weakness in right shoulder, which is my dominant side, x ray showed no damage to bones. He ordered a EMG and NCV. The doctor doing test said I have possible multiple issues with suprascapular nerve. He said could be in neck or in shoulder. He will be calling my doc to get me results. Not sure what plan will be after that...